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Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

bbc.com

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Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#531

Post by stjohnswarts »

luizfzs wrote: post #110
colejohnson66 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, the old “he was free to leave anytime” argument. No. He wasn’t. Yes, technically, he was free to leave, but arguing that is ignoring the fact that leaving would mean jail. It’s victim blaming. Would you say a victim of Stockholm Syndrome is “free to leave at any time”? No, because that’s a ridiculous argument. Would you say Snowden is “free to leave [Russia] at any time”? No! So why is it an acceptable argument w…

Snowden's case is different, if I'm not mistaken, since the US suspended his passport. Meaning he cannot travel anywhere else (unless he's got a Russian passport, which I doubt).

Russians could grant him citizenship pretty easily though. I still think he would get picked up by interpol or CIA though if he went to the wrong countries or unescorted/unprotected by the country he traveled to.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#532

Post by stjohnswarts »

isostatic wrote: post #145
Miner49er wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the alternative is potential death or at least more torture for the rest of your life it's not really a choice.

Sweden doesn't have a death penalty. If it did, UK law would not allow extradition to Sweden.

Yeah but Sweden was just going to turn him over to the USA.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#533

Post by samdfonseca »

vintermann wrote: post #428
mcv wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mostly self-inflicted, though. He chose that exile over facing justice for these charges. And calling systemic judicial prosecution "torture" is most certainly hyperbole. It's the job of the judicial system to prosecute people who break the law, and it's definitely better if they do so in a systemic rather than arbitrary way. So while it's entirely possible that Assange shows symptoms of torture, the question r…

This talking point had been soundly debunked. Sweden kept up the threat of charges and demand for extradition for nearly ten years, but dropped them like a hot potato when the US charges became public (when Sweden's charges would only get in their way). Never mind that Assange was ridiculed for most of those ten years for claiming that US would seek his extradition. His understanding of the world, including the asses…

All of the following can be true at the same time:

- Sweden dropped the charges after the US pressured them to

- The US has been seeking his extradition for years

- Sweden is extremely servile to the US in security/foreign policy

- He raped a girl in Sweden

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#534

Post by stjohnswarts »

nemo wrote: post #298
h0h0h0h0111 wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He locked himself in a room trying to evade exactly the treatment he is receiving right now. Is there any precedent in the UK for solitary confinement in Belmarsh for skipping bail on a rape charge in another country?

His treatment in Sweden if he'd complied rather than fleeing justice in the UK would likely have been far better. His dissembling about extradition and all of his actions suggest he was guilty of the rapes and hiding from justice.

Yeah but Sweden is a US ally and was just going to turn around and extradite him to the USA after they were done with him. I don't think you've been following the story closely enough. This is what he said for like the past decade. He know that Federal prison will probably end up with him beaten to death, shanked to death, or in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#536

Post by whycombinater »

jki275 wrote: post #488
paulmd wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Largely because people have roots here and it's a pain to move. What, you're supposed to quit your job, leave your extended family, sell your house and possessions, find a new job and place to live overseas, and potentially even learn an entire new language? Just to be sure you won't be tortured? (assuming you can even find a place to take you - things are easier here for this crowd, tech skills are in-demand and usu…

It's not a 1% chance. Even if one accepts your definition of torture, people who aren't criminals are very rarely caught up in the system at all. So it's far less than 1% as long as you're simply not a criminal. If the US were really so bad, people would leave. The people who do leave typically leave for tax purposes opposite to your belief.

Seriously dude?

"American Airlines overcharged you by $1 and you're complaining? WHY NOT JUST START AN AIRLINE YOURSELF?"

If only we were all god, your comment would be helpful.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#537

Post by nkurz »

I'm surprised that I haven't seen this more widely reported, but over the weekend it was announced that the Judge who has been presiding over Assange's detention hearings appears to have been removed from the case due to her conflicts of interests: https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/16/arbuthnot-out-as-assan...

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#538

Post by dang »

auslander wrote: post #206
goerz wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mr. Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the extremely hostile and arbitrary environment he has been exposed to for many years Let me correct that: Mr Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the environment that he exposed himself to (Edit: I’m talking about the embassy episode here, not his more recent incarceration)

> environment that he exposed himself to Fuck you. You are jailed on trumped up charges. Are you at fault by "exposing yourself to" it?

As you know, since we've warned you multiple times before, you can't comment like this on Hacker News. We've banned this account for breaking the site guidelines.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I suppose I need to add that this has nothing to do with pro-X or anti-X positions, for X = Assange or any other value of X.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#539

Post by erikpukinskis »

jki275 wrote: post #474
seirl wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the "few aspects" like the prison system, healthcare, inequality, corruption, homelessness rates, freedom of the press, air pollution, crime rates, discrimination, police violence, homicide rates, unemployment benefits, social nets...

Seriously, if you all believe everywhere else in the world is so much better, why stay? For context, I'm married to a person from a real developing country, as it's actually defined. I'm sending multiple family members to school there so they can get out. Every single person in her family has done everything they can to get out. Every single person I know there has done everything they can to get out. Every single pe…

Because I’m able to survive just fine in America, and I was born here and I am committed to doing my best to help.

American is a combination of a first world country and a third world country under one government. Which one you are born into is a roll of the dice. People travel between the two, but one of them is not shrinking as fast as it should.

The fact that I can point at that doesn’t make me want to move to Sweden, it makes me want to work harder to take care of my neighbors and to change our political climate.

Re: Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation

#540

Post by thraxil »

jki275 wrote: post #474
seirl wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the "few aspects" like the prison system, healthcare, inequality, corruption, homelessness rates, freedom of the press, air pollution, crime rates, discrimination, police violence, homicide rates, unemployment benefits, social nets...

Seriously, if you all believe everywhere else in the world is so much better, why stay? For context, I'm married to a person from a real developing country, as it's actually defined. I'm sending multiple family members to school there so they can get out. Every single person in her family has done everything they can to get out. Every single person I know there has done everything they can to get out. Every single pe…

As someone who did (US citizen now resident in the UK), it's a very difficult and expensive process. Most countries require you to have a visa sponsorship which basically means you are highly skilled enough that a company there is willing to pay a lot of fees and demonstrate to the government that they tried but couldn't find a local with your skillset. Once you've got that, it's also a lot of money on your part to get a visa, pay immigration lawyers, accountants, etc. You need money for that, a good chunk of cash up front for an apartment (first, last, security deposit, brokers fees, we had to add in a few months of rent up front because we didn't have a credit score in the UK), and a million other things. All made way more complicated because you probably don't have a bank account in the country, so everything is happening via international wire transfers.

It also happens that I don't have children or family members that need me to care for them, etc. It would get significantly harder if I had to deal with that (though I did move a cat internationally, which was not trivial).

The irony of course is that having the privilege for all that (cash reserves, highly employable skillset, etc) means that most of the problems in the US don't actually affect you as much as others. The people who are getting screwed the worst by the terrible systems in the US are in no position to extract themselves.

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